National News

Bank's 'spy novel' tactics did US tax dodgers' billions

(NEWSER) – Swiss bank Credit Suisse helped thousands of Americans keep as much as $12 billion in assets tucked away from the eyes of the IRS, a Senate report out yesterday alleges—and the bank used some unconventional techniques in the process, including once hiding bank statements in a copy of Sports Illustrated. TheNew York Times details other methods allegedly used by the bank between 2001 and 2008: The report claims it opened accounts for American customers in the name of offshore shell entities; pushed Americans to visit Switzerland to do their banking, with help from a code-named office at the Zurich airport; dodged paper trails by sending staffers to the US; and even operated a remote-control elevator with no buttons in one of its offices. Indeed, senators refer to "cloak-and-dagger schemes that belong in a spy novel," the Guardian notes.